Assuming
Is a Bad Thing
By AO2(AW) Jason Binney and AO3(AW) Briggs
T
o say things had become routine during the last few weeks of a six-month combat cruise is an understatement. The constant repetition of certain maintenance procedures led team members to make assumptions that ended in a memorable incident. We were on our last hour of night check. We needed to arm the jets for the morning flight schedule and to do an air-refueling store (ARS) guillotine check. We had done these procedures countless times on cruise. As the CDI, I thought that Fast Eagle 106 required these
for the guillotine check, using the AWM-102 tester to complete this function. Typically it works great; however, this time it was acting up. I had to spend some extra time with the tester before using it. Back in the cockpit, AO3 Briggs removed the safety controls on the ARS control panel and was ready to test the system. Normally, the CADs are removed from the aircraft during testing, so they do not actually fire when the system is tested. The test is done to make sure the firing process works from the cockpit, in case aircrew
checks, so my team member and I signed out our tools, went to the roof, found the jet, and went to work. We did not put our job into “work� in NALCOMIS before we left maintenance control. We found 106 and assumed the jet was not armed; we implicitly trusted our shipmates to leave the jet unarmed before the tests. Upon reaching the jet, AO3 Briggs climbed into the cockpit and prepped the necessary switches for the test. I stayed underneath the jet and prepared the ARS pod
have to sever the refueling hose in flight. Since we trusted that the CADs had been removed, we did not verify whether they actually were installed in the ARS pod. Since the AO3 knew how long the prep work took, she had a built-in timer for this test. After waiting the normal amount of time, she engaged the firing switch in the cockpit. As it turns out, the CADs were installed, so they blew. The hose was cut, and the refueling basket
10
Mech
